Carrie Arnett

Part II:  Immigrant/Minority Essay:

Essay Log:

·        Organizing/ choosing which stories to discuss and points to make: 30 minutes

·        Sunday: 2 hours in the morning

·        Sunday: 2 hours in the afternoon.

“For Liberty and Justice for all.”  These simple words may call to mind a myriad of promising meanings, such as freedom, choice, opportunity, and hope.  Lady Liberty herself, as we first discussed in class, seems to be the monument of monuments.  Within her arms, she holds close to her the ideas that many immigrants hold close to them as they enter America, with hopes and dreams of creating for themselves, and their families, a better tomorrow.  When I entered this class, I too shared these same ideas and thoughts, associated with the “American Dream.”  However, as the class progressed, I soon learned that the words “For Liberty and Justice for all” do not ring the same for everyone.  While some immigrants enter America in search for opportunity, minority groups such as African Americans, entered in chains.  Within the minority narrative, minorities like African Americans and Native Americans usually do not find opportunity, but instead find exploitation and marginalization.  Since social contracts between the two are different, attitudes and feelings about assimilation may differ.  Rather than the American Dream (the hopes of a better tomorrow) minority groups are usually faced with the American Nightmare, leaving them questioning “Liberty” and “Justice” for WHO?  Often minorities will speak of limited opportunities, which is one effect of the color code. 

As the color code brands people either black and white, we must not forget the shades of grey that exists in the American culture.  Often intertwined and confused about their own culture, lies a group that does not have a definite place in either the immigrant or the minority narrative.  Certain groups, such as Mexican Americans and Afro-Caribbeans may not align specifically with one group, but instead have mixed characteristics of both.  Nevertheless, all three narratives, the immigrant, the minority, and the “in between” groups, experience sacrifice and hardships throughout their own journeys.  Before taking this course, I found myself walking on egg shells when the topic of immigration arose.  The issue of immigration can be an extremely sensitive topic and many questions often go unanswered.  Who is an immigrant?  Who are the minorities?  What about these groups of immigrants, and where do they exactly fit?  Where can the American public search for these answers?  By reading the stories offered by immigrants and minorities, we have the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the issues that surround immigration.  

            I have always found it trifling to decipher the difference between immigrants and non-immigrants, since America itself was created by people who migrated from other countries.  However, since taking this course I have grown to realize and better understand the immigrant narrative.  Like the founders who came to America searching for a new type of government, immigrants too, cross the great blue ocean with the hopes and dreams of securing a better future.  In identifying the immigrant narrative as a fundamental story-line of American culture, one consistent theme seems to arise, the belief in the American dream.  As immigrants leave behind the Old World, they seek in this New World a chance to obtain something they could not have in their mother countries.  For instance, in Anzia Yezierska’s “Soap and Water,” the Jewish, female narrator at first seems to be the “model minority.”  In her desire go to college and have the opportunity to “voice” herself, the narrator takes every financial opportunity to obtain her goal (107).  She washes, irons, sweats, aches, and works relentlessly in order to pay for college.  The narrator values education, for it is a stepping stone that must be crossed if she wants to establish her independence in the American culture.  However, as she attempts to assimilate, her American dream of obtaining a college education turns into the American nightmare.  This characteristic of the immigrant narrative is illustrated when she states, “I had suffered the cruelty of their cleanliness and the tyranny of their culture to the breaking point” (106).  The young, Jewish woman’s romantic quest for opportunity seems to stall in a moment of disillusionment.  The dominant culture, ironically represented by Miss Whiteside, exploits the narrator for not adopting the dominant culture’s belief in cleanliness.  Within this story, the reader is able to identify several stages of the immigrant narrative.  The narrator seems to be in a cross between stage three and four of the immigrant narrative.  In her process of assimilation she experiences shock and exploitation as the dean intends on not allowing her to receive her diploma.  At this point, the narrator rejects the dominant culture and truly learns to “voice” herself as she confronts Miss Whiteside.  Soon after, the immigrant narrator enters stage five as she rediscovers herself and her vision of America, with the assistance of Miss Van Ness.  She describes how Miss Van Ness not only “unbound and freed” her, but also helps her rediscover America (110). 

            Another story where the immigrant narrative can be seen is “In the Land of the Free” by Sui Sin Far.  In contrary to the title, the story centers on the disappointment of two Chinese immigrants, whose son is taken away by customs when the mother first enters America.  In the opening scene of the story, Lae Choo, the mother, is literally leaving the Old World, the first stage of the immigrant narrative, to be with her husband who is already working in America.  Her vision of the American dream is evident as she states in the opening lines to her child, “There is thy home for years to come.  It is very beautiful and thou wilt be very happy there” (IA 3).  Lae Choo envisions America as a place of golden opportunity, one where her husband will gain financially.  This too is seen when she tells her young child, “there is where thy father is making a fortune for thee” (3).  Lae Choo clearly thinks of America as a place where she will be able to better provide for her son.  However, her American dream is short lived.  After her first few steps on American soil, her life is turned upside down when she is introduced to the legal side of America.  This nightmare marks stage three of the immigrant narrative, for she is in shock that America would take a child away from its mother.  Soon after, the family is taken advantage of by the white lawyer who preys on the family’s desperate situation.  The family is deficient in understanding the American government and is manipulated by the white lawyer, who exploits them.  However, the dilemma that the family faces in getting back their child is mild compared to the crisis that is at hand when he is returned.  The child has been living with the dominant culture and has already assimilated, placing him in stage four on the immigrant narrative.  Since he was such a young child when he was taken, he does not even remember his mother; and as a result, he tells her to “Go ‘way” (11).  This concept seems to be a recurring theme within many stories in immigrant literature.  In order for the family to reconnect, all members must find a way to balance both cultures within their lives.

            In contrast to the immigrant narrative and the American dream is the minority narrative of the American nightmare.  While immigrants generally view America as a place filled with opportunity, minorities may feel that opportunities in American have been limited.  African American and the Native American narratives are examples of minority literature.  The minority narrative generally tells a different story.  Since African Americans were forced to immigrate to America and were sold into slavery, it is understandable that their social contracts be viewed differently.  In addition, social contracts for Native Americans also differ, since they were all ready in America before European immigrants came.  Denied the opportunity for the American dream, these minority groups speak of exploitation and marginalization instead of opportunity.  Because of these differences, many minorities choose to resist assimilation into the white dominant culture.  For instance, in Patricia Smith’s poem, “Blonde White Women,” an African American woman struggles inwardly with her outer appearance.  She is surrounded by external factors that seem to pressure her or suggest to her that she should be something that she is not.  As she flips through her Ebony Magazine, the products that are advertised connect to the dominant culture, and supply her with ways to assimilate into this dominant culture with items such as hair-straightening products and bleaches for the skin.  Within the minority narrative, one shared problem faced by African Americans is the dominant culture’s judgment of skin color or what can be referred to as the color code.  Good and evil, clean and dirty, and strong and weak, are all associations given to light skin and dark skin.  This is evident when the speaker of the poem describes the scene where she is hugged by her blonde, white teacher.  When her teacher pulls away, she sees “how much she wanted to wash” (UA 78).  By the ending of the poem, the speaker becomes proud of who she is and realizes that she is beautiful.  She no longer idealizes the blonde white woman, and there is a moment of self-empowerment as she resists the dominant culture. 

Another example of minority literature, where there is a more blatant resistance to the dominant culture, is in Christos’s poem “I Did Not Sign a Treaty with the United States Government.”  Within this poem the issue of assimilation is addressed and rejected.  The Native American speaker seems to portray more of the American nightmare and feels exploited by the United States.  The speaker rejects American food, clothing, architecture, and the history between the United States and the Native American people.  Another aspect I noticed is that the color code is referred to within this poem.  The negative association with the color black seems to also be linked to other minority groups, such as Native Americans.  The speaker states, “we revoke your immigration papers” and “your assimilation soap suds” (UA 305).  The allusion to the soap suds refers to how historically America treated the Native Americans.  In forcing the dominant culture upon the Native Americans, the goal would have been to wash away the traditions of the Old World (metaphorically: the dirty way of the Native American), and cleanse them into a New World, meaning the dominant culture.  This process can thus be translated into the assimilation process, which is rejected by the speaker of the poem.  Furthermore, the reader is able to see the world from the eyes of the minority in the quote, “we revoke your immigration papers” (305).  The significance of this quote is that the reader realizes that the speaker is pointing out how Native Americans lived in America before Europeans immigrated into the country.  I found this to be very eye-opening and profound because I was able to better understand why the speaker resisted the dominant culture.  Both the African American and the Native American groups are two of the most unassimilated minority groups.  Therefore, these groups tend to remain in distinct communities.  For instance, in Silko’s “The Man to Send Rain Clouds,” Leon and Louise live in a community with other Native Americans who share in their same beliefs. 

            Over the past few weeks, the course has shifted its focus to a group of people who seem to fall somewhere between immigrants and minorities.  Afro-Caribbean and Mexican American narratives, both link to the ambivalent minority.  The Mexican American story is very similar to the Native American story in that they too, lived on land that once did not belong to America.  Much of the land that Mexican Americans may live on today is land that was once Mexico’s, but later conquered by America; thus creating similarities in the American nightmare with exploitation and limited opportunity.  Mexican Americans diverge from the classic story of immigration because they do not cross a large ocean to come to America.  For this reason, many New World immigrants hold on to the values of the Old World and remain loyal to their homelands.  For instance, in “El Patron” by Nash Candelaria, the son, out of protest of the war, is fleeing from the draft.  The father is very disapproving and wants his son to not be a traitor to his country.  The daughter places her father in a corner when she questions him about his fleeing Mexico.  She asks her father about how his father felt about his decision to leave the country, “He disowned you, didn’t he?  Grandpa disowned you.  Call you a traitor to your own country.  A deserter when things got tough.’  ‘I did not intend to stay in Mexico and starve,’ he said. He looked around at us one by one as if he had to justify himself” (IA 226-227).  Señor Martinez struggles between the duality that exists from living in both the Old World and New World, a common characteristic found within the ambivalent minority narrative.  Furthermore, Lola herself exhibits this same duality in calling her father a “macho, chauvinist jumping bean!”  Lola is very traditional in the sense that she does the cooking and maintaining of the household, which is the traditional role of women.  Mentally, she recognizes her female role and does what her father tells her, but not without a more modern-assimilated approach.  This is illustrated in her rebelling against her father and the Old World, by cooking foods that he does not like.  Lola, like her father, is caught between the Old World and the New. 

            One story that falls between both the immigrant and minority narrative is June Jordon’s “Report from the Bahamas.”  One factor that must be taken into consideration, when reading the Afro-Caribbean narrative, is that people tend to group Afro-Caribbeans automatically into the minority group, simply because of skin color.  Therefore, this may cause Afro-Caribbeans to feel exploited and marginalized, resulting in similarities between the two narratives.  In June Jordon’s “Report from the Bahamas” her narrative seems to share the minority experience.  The narrator resists the dominant culture in her opinions, but not always in her actions.  She states that her son is “Black” and ‘if Reagan succeeds in eliminating Federal programs to aid minority students, he will have to forget about furthering his studies.”  In these words, there are many different factors to notice.  Through her capitalization of “Black” and the labeling of the white housewife as a Wasp, it is clear that elements of the color code exist in her narrative.  Furthermore, the speaker identifies her son as Black, not Afro-Caribbean, and as a minority.  In addition, she believes President Reagan, the ultimate dominant culture figure, to be a threat to her son’s progress.  This relates directly to the minority narrative’s feelings of exploitation and limited opportunities.  Even though she appears to connect more to the minority experience, she has assimilated into the dominate culture.  As immigrants assimilate into the dominant culture, loss of ethnic identity occurs as the passing of each generation.  In her assimilation process, she has not only received a higher education, but she also teaches at the university level.  Furthermore, she is vacationing at the “Sheraton British Colonial” (305).  However, despite her assimilation, the narrator herself seems to be torn and struggles to find a connection to others.  She is assimilated into the dominant culture and attempts to reconnect to her past culture or to human culture.  The narrator feels frustrated and realizes in the end, that she must connect to someone, linking back to the minority narrative.

            America is seen as a land of opportunity, freedom, prosperity and hope.  People, who are brave enough to leave their motherland, come to America expecting to not be persecuted because of their color, religion, and ethnicity.  All are human beings who have sacrificed in order to make their journey, whether it is long or short.  By reading the stories offered by immigrants, minorities, and New World Immigrants we have the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the issues that surround immigration.